Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman poet Ovid and explore the theme of metamorphosis from the transformation of Narcissus to the bug of Kafka’s story, and beyond. Ovid wrote at the beginning of The Metamorphoses - in Ted Hughes’ wonderful version - “now I am ready to tell how bodies are changed/Into different bodies/I summon the supernatural beings/who first contrived/The transmogrifications/In the stuff of life./You did it for your own amusement./Descend again, be pleased to reanimate/this revival of those marvels.”And descend they did: The metamorphoses is an extraordinarily wide sweep through the teeming, changing world of Roman and Greek mythology.The tales were immensely popular in their own day, they were an inspiration to Chaucer, Ovid was Shakespeare’s favourite poet, and two thousand years after they were written the stories of shape changing still seem relevant: Ted Hughes won the Whitbread Book of the Year with his translation of Tales from Ovid in 1997, and a new collection called Ovid Metamorphosed has garnered versions of the tales from authors and poets from all over the world.With A S Byatt, novelist and one of the contributors to Ovid Metamorphosed; Dr Catherine Bates, critic and Research Fellow, University of Warwick.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy |
| 0:46.5 | the program. Hello, Ovid wrote at the beginning of the metamorphosis in Ted Hughes wonderful version. Now I am ready the |
| 0:52.6 | beginning of the metamorphosis in Ted Hughes wonderful version. |
| 0:53.9 | Now I am ready to tell how bodies are changed into different bodies. |
| 0:58.8 | I summon the supernatural beings who first contrived the transmogifications in the stuff of life. |
| 1:06.9 | You did it for your own amusement. |
| 1:08.9 | Desend again. |
| 1:10.1 | Be pleased to reanimate this revival of those marvels. |
| 1:14.8 | And descend they did. |
| 1:15.7 | The metamorphoses is an extraordinarily wide sweep through the teeming changing world of |
| 1:20.8 | Roman and Greek mythology. |
| 1:22.1 | The tales are |
| 1:22.6 | immensely popular in their own day. They're an inspiration to Chaucer. |
| 1:26.2 | Ovid was Shakespeare's favorite poet and for a thousand years, and now a |
| 1:30.2 | thousand years after they were written, the stories of shape-changing still seem relevant. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.